Everybody Loves Raymond


Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Worldwide Pants Incorporated, in association with HBO Independent Productions. The cast members were Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Madylin Sweeten, and Monica Horan. Most episodes of the series were filmed in front of a live studio audience.
The series received positive reviews, won 15 Emmys from 69 nominations and has been credited for helping revive the fortunes of CBS after struggling throughout the late 80s and early 90s. It was ranked the 49th all-time funniest television comedy by Complex, the 60th best all-time series by TV Guide, the eleventh-best sitcom starring a stand-up comedian and the 35th best sitcom of all time by Rolling Stone, and the 63rd best written television series by the Writers Guild of America. In a Hollywood Reporter poll of all-time television programs surveying 779 actors, 365 producers and 268 directors, Everybody Loves Raymond ranked 96th.

Series overview

The show is centered on the day-to-day life of an Italian-American named Raymond "Ray" Barone, a sportswriter for Newsday living with his family on Long Island. Beleaguered and diffident yet dryly sarcastic, Ray takes few things seriously, making jokes in most situations, no matter how serious. He avoids responsibilities around the house and with his kids, leaving them to his wife, Debra, resulting in her being angry and stressed out quite often.
Ray and Debra have a daughter Ally and twin sons Michael and Geoffrey; the Barone children are regular characters but not a major focus. Raymond's parents, Marie and Frank, live across the street with their older son Robert. The Barone relatives frequently make their presence known to Ray and Debra, much to the annoyance of the latter. Although she loves them, Debra's complaints about Ray's overbearing family serve as one of the show's comic elements. Out of the three, Debra is particularly resentful of Marie, an insulting, controlling, manipulative woman who criticizes her passive-aggressively and praises Ray, clearly favoring him over his brother Robert.
Ray typically falls in the middle of family arguments, incapable of taking any decisive stand, especially if it might invoke Marie's disapproval. Robert, jealous of his younger sibling's position as their mother's favorite son and the success his brother has achieved professionally and personally, is Ray's biggest rival; Robert and Ray frequently argue like overgrown children, focusing much of their energy picking on or one-upping each other, although deep down they love each other dearly.
Frank Barone is a retiree prone to directing insults and merciless put-downs at everyone he meets. Largely an absentee father when Ray and Robert were growing up, Frank buries his feelings and rarely yields to sentiment. As the series progresses, however, several episodes demonstrate that he loves his family immensely. Unlike everyone else, Frank has no problem criticizing Marie and often comes to Debra's defense, whenever Marie comments disparagingly about their daughter-in-law.
Ray and Debra's marriage is fraught with conflicts. Ray prefers sports television over discussions with Debra on marital matters. Ray works full-time, as his father had, leaving most child-rearing responsibilities to his wife, and he is often forced against his will to help around the house. One of the show's recurring elements finds the couple having a long discussion in bed, before going to sleep.

Episodes

Characters

  • Ray Barone is a sportswriter for Newsday. He lives in Lynbrook, Long Island with his wife, Debra, and their three children Alexandra, Geoffrey, and Michael. His parents Frank and Marie and brother Robert live across the street. Raymond's character is loosely based on the real-life Romano, as he is the father of twin boys and a girl. Ray is emotionally unable to take any sort of stand on anything, especially if it brings him to any sort of conflict with his mother—the exception is when he protests about sex or some trivial matter. Raymond's mother favors him over Robert.
  • Debra Barone is Raymond's wife, and mother of Ally, Michael and Geoffrey. As a housewife, Debra claims she is frequently overworked, underappreciated, and stressed out. This leads to her yelling and occasionally attacking inanimate objects, largely because she has to deal with all the housework and her three rambunctious children with almost no assistance or support from Raymond; additionally, she constantly puts up with Marie's intrusiveness and criticism. On frequent occasions this frustration boils over and is vented towards Raymond. While Debra has a fractious relationship with Marie, she is shown to share many tender moments with Robert, and occasionally Frank.
  • Robert Barone is Raymond's older brother and the son of Frank and Marie. Standing at, he is the tallest Barone, and has several quirks, the biggest being a nervous habit of touching food to his chin before eating it, once referred to as "crazy chin". Robert is often jealous of the attention that Raymond receives from their mother, to the exclusion of his every achievement. Robert has been a New York City police officer for over 23 years and attains the rank of lieutenant by the end of the series. His height, appearance, and depressed demeanor are the source of much humor. However, despite his imposing size, Robert is a very skilled dancer. Divorced from first wife Joanne prior to the beginning of the series, he is frequently unlucky with women, until his on-off relationship with his girlfriend Amy McDougall finally results in marriage. Also, despite his tough appearance, he appears to be more sensitive, affectionate, tender and open to sharing his emotions compared to the rest of his family.
  • Marie Barone is Raymond and Robert's mother and the wife of Frank. Intrusive, controlling, manipulative, and over-nurturing, she is a housewife who excels in cooking, cleaning, and other things dealing with keeping a good home and family. Marie and Frank live across the street from Raymond and Debra in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York, which often irritates the latter couple. Marie's meddling tendencies include going through their mail, redoing their laundry, and upstaging Debra in the kitchen. She also goes to great lengths to control Robert's love life and get him to settle down and bring her more grandchildren.
  • Frank Barone is Raymond's father and Marie's husband, a retired bookkeeper, and registered real estate agent, with a stubborn masculine personality and no interest in personal hygiene. A United States Army veteran, Frank served in the Korean War, which he frequently brings up to everyone's annoyance. He mocks his sons' inability to handle their own personal and domestic problems; unlike his sons, he is not intimidated by Marie and disparages her regularly with little to no provocation. Although both he and Marie maintain that he only married her for her cooking, he is shown to care about her genuinely. He is a member of the Order of the Caribou Lodge, and was named Man of the Year by his fellow members.
  • Amy MacDougall becomes Robert Barone's second wife, and is the best friend of Debra, who introduces her to Robert. A recurring character for the first seven seasons of the series, Amy became essentially a regular cast member for the remainder of the show's run. However, Horan's name did not get added to the opening credits until the final season. Many issues cause Amy and Robert to break up in the first six seasons, with one being blamed on Raymond, and another happening because Robert was seeing other women, one of whom was his ex-wife. Quite often, Amy apologizes to someone even if she did not do anything wrong. She was born to very religious parents who, according to Amy, "wouldn't yell if they were on fire." In real life, Horan is married to creator/executive producer Philip Rosenthal.
  • Ally Barone is the daughter of Raymond and Debra. She is the oldest of the Barone children. She is not seen much, even though she is credited in the main cast. She is said to be a better cook than her mother, and maybe someday her grandmother. In real life, Madylin is the sister of Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten.
  • Geoffrey Barone and Michael Barone are the twin sons of Raymond and Debra. Their names in the pilot were Gregory and Matthew. In real life, twins Sawyer and Sullivan are brothers of Madylin Sweeten.

    Development

Conception

In the 1990s, several television shows based on work from stand-up comedians, such as Home Improvement and Roseanne, were successful. Ray Romano, a comedian for 12 years by the time Everybody Loves Raymond first aired, was one such comic to get development deals following a five-minute performance on the Late Show with David Letterman in the middle of 1995. David Letterman executive producer Rob Burnett recalled that "by the end we already had lawyers lined up to work a deal with him."
In looking for a show-runner, Romano wanted somebody to share his tastes in humor, avoiding those who were into writing "devicey" material. Around a dozen candidates for the show-runner position were considered before Coach writer Philip Rosenthal, who sent a Frasier spec script to Letterman's Worldwide Pants. The company read the spec and sent Rosenthal a tape of Romano asking screenwriters to help him with an upcoming show based on his work; also in the tape, he stated that he had a hard time coming up with new material because of having to raise twin sons, and showcased a "new bit" of him shaking keys while saying "hey". Romano's sense of humor intrigued Rosenthal, reminding him of Bill Cosby's early work.
After viewing the tape, Rosenthal met with Romano in person at Art's Delicatessen & Restaurant on Ventura Boulevard about being a potential show runner. The encounter consisted of Romano and Rosenthal each discussing their families. Romano told Rosenthal he wanted to do a series about a comedian discussing current issues with friends at a coffee shop, but Rosenthal responded that kind of sitcom already existed and was a hit. Rosenthal, intrigued by Romano's crazy family fables and wanting to work around his lack of previous acting experience, then stated it would be most "comfortable" for Romano to have the Raymond character be very close to his real personality and in family circumstances reflective of Romano's home life. Although Romano has a brother named Robert in real life, he based the Robert in Raymond on another one of his brothers, Richard. Rosenthal also incorporated his own family experiences into the show, with his mother and wife serving as the basis for Marie and Debra respectively.
Most aspects of Romano's real life are replicated in the series, except for its setting of Long Island instead of Queens; Romano and the writers initially wanted the show to be set in Queens, but CBS executives ultimately chose Long Island due to its broad appeal, as it was a suburb with urban elements. Previous prime-time television series set in Long Island, such as The Hamptons and The Pruitts of Southampton, never went beyond one season. Romano also explained, "There's a lot more kissing on the show than in real life"; and his wife Anna continued, "and they talk a lot more in the show than we ever do at home." The title Everybody Loves Raymond originated from a response Romano's brother Richard made after Ray won a CableACE stand-up award: "I had a day where people were shooting at me, and you're bringing home trophies. Everybody loves Raymond, don't they?" In the show's pilot, Robert states "Everybody loves Raymond."
Rosenthal pitched the show to CBS president Les Moonves, CBS comedy vice president David Himelfarb, CBS comedy development executive Wendi Goldstein, and CBS comedy and drama development head Gene Stein. He kept the pitch very simple: "it's and his family, and his parents live across the street with his brother." CBS was lukewarm towards the show's low concept, but found it enough of a low-risk investment for the series to be green-lit. Letterman's involvement with Raymond amounted to nothing more than a meeting where he signed Rosenthal's show-runner contract and told him, "just don't embarrass us."